Vishu Kanji

Vishu Kanji is a special traditional recipe that is prepared on the day of Vishu. Vishu represents the passing of sun from Taurus to Aries. It is believed to be the ideal time to start cultivation. In olden days, kanji was the preferred breakfast in most farming families. May be , the kanji is also made special to fit the occasion of Vishu.

We don't follow the tradition of making this kanji on Vishu day. But I get to taste that on Vishu day, thanks to my kind neighbors , both before and after marriage. When my BIL and family came down for vacation after Vishu, I decided to make this for them. They all enjoyed the kanji very much. Even those who doesn't have a liking for the regular kanji, will love this. Since then the photos were waiting to be posted in my drafts folder.

Parboiled rice preferable rose matta - 1 cup

raw rice/long grain rice - 1/2 cup

moong dal - 1/2 cup

mochapayaru/mochakottai - 1/2 cup

fresh grated coconut - 1 cup

salt to taste

I don't know the English name for mochha. With googling I found, lima beans is a close substitute for this.

Mix salt with grated coconut and keep it aside.

Dry roast moong dal and mochapayaru separately till you can smell the aroma. Lightly crush the mocha using the mixer grinder, so that the skin comes out. It should not be powdered. I use the traditional grinding stone ie. Ammikal.

Wash both the rice and add moong dal,mocha payaru cook with 6 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Since rosematta takes much time to cook, I cook it separately and mix everything later. If you are cooking on stove top, Start with rosematta, when it is half boiled, add the raw rice and grams. The rice and grams should not turn mushy. Once cooked, you can adjust the consistency by adding more hot water.

Add the coconut to the kanji and serve hot or cold. It taste good both ways. Avial pairs very well with this kanji.

Let me also join Sangeeth in her attempt to Eat Healthy-Fibre Rich.

Chawal ka Parantha

For the last few days, daily, atleast one post in TOI is on roti with varied stuffings and ingredients, thanks to Srivally and her Roti Mela. I had planned to try some new varieties as part of the on going Roti Mela. Ever since she announced the mela, I was too busy that routine cooking itself was too tedious. Now, things are falling back to routine.

This recipe is from Sanjeev Kapoor's Dal-Roti cook book. An easy one to make and can make good use of the left over rice too. Here is the recipe.



Cooked rice - 1 cup

wheat flour - 1 1/2 cups

salt - 1 tspn


curds/yogurt - 1/4 cup


ghee - 2 tblspn


red chilli powder - 1/2 tspn


cumin powder - 1/2 tspn


green chillies - 2 nos, chopped


medium sized onion - 1, chopped


oil for frying

Sift wheat flour and one teaspoon of salt. Add yogurt, 2 tablespoons of ghee and half cup of water. Mix together to form a soft dough.Cover with a damp cloth for half an hour.

Meanwhile prepare the stuffing. You can make use of left over cooked rice for this paranthas. Mix cooked rice, red chilli powder, cumin powder, chopped green chillies , chopped onion and salt to taste.

Knead the dough and divide into equal sized balls. Roll out each ball to a three-inch round. Keep a portion of the rice mixture in the centre and gather the edges together and shape into a thick round pedha. Roll out into a 7 inch circle.

Heat a tawa. Place a parantha on it. Turn over once and sprinkle some oil on it. Flip and spread some oil on the other side. Cook till both sides are well.

Paranthas were very soft and spicy too. Since these paranthas remain soft for a longer time, it is suitable for lunchbox too. Serve with some plain curds and pickle or any side of your choice.

This is my entry to Vally's Roti Mela.

Pumpkin Halwa in Microwave

Pumpkin halwa is part of almost all breakfast menu served for brahmin marriages. If its not this sweet, then mostly Kesari takes its place. Every time I taste the halwa for marriage breakfasts, I wanted to try it at home. And this is the first time I am trying. I am happy that it came out well. I didn't have any recipe to follow. I think basic method for preparing any vegetable halwa/sweet is the same.

Ingredients

Ripe pumpkin grated - 2 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Orange color - 1/4 tspn
Cardamom powder - 1 tspn
Ghee- 1 tblspn



Take a MW safe bowl. Mix grated pumpkin and milk. Mix the food color in a tablespoon of milk and add to the milk+pumpkin mix.


MW high for 4 minutes. By then the pumpkin must be cooked and milk be fully absorbed. Its alright If pumpkin is cooked and some milk left.


Stir in sugar. MW high for 12 minutes. Keep stirring at every 4 minutes. By then it must have cooked to form a homogeneous mixture.


Add a tablespoon of ghee and powdered cardamom.


MW for another 1 minute.

Timings may vary according to your MW and the texture of pumpkin used. Adjust accordingly.
Cooking in MW doesn't call for constant attention as on stove top method.





Now coming to the 2 awards I received last week.
Thanks Gaurav and Uma for passing the awards for me.

Gaurav has passed the Good Chat Blog award.


I in turn pass this to
Aparna
Sunshinemom


Uma feels I make her day. Actually, you made my day Uma with this award.


I pass the award to
Sowmya
Jayashree


Please accept the awards, even if you have already received them.

Ela adai - Rice wrappers with banana,jaggery & coconut stuffing

Ela adai is a delicacy that can bring many nostalgic memories. This is another sweet, which in my home, is usually prepared in the summer months when jackfruit is available in plenty. The filling for the elai adai is prepared using ripe jackfruit bulbs.

In Kerala, elai adai is served in many small tea shops/hotels through out the year. When jackfruit is out of season, aval (beaten rice)/banana takes the place of the main ingredient. This is the first time I am trying with banana filling.

To prepare the filling

I used the Nenthrapazham variety which is a speciality of Kerala. I haven't tried with any other variety of banana.

Ripe bananas - 2 Powdered

Jaggery - 1 1/2 cup

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Cardamon - 1 tspn

Ghee - 1 tblspn

Slice the banana into bite sized cubes. Heat a kadai. Add a teaspoon of ghee. Transfer the banana cubes. Cook till they turn soft.

Add jaggery powder and keep mixing. When the mixture starts to thicken, stir in the coconut. Cook till the mixture comes together and no trace of liquid found.

Finally add cardamom powder and remove from fire.

You can prepare the filling before hand and refrigerate.

For the outer covering

Roasted rice flour - 1 1/2 cup

Hot water - 1 cup

salt to taste

Add salt to rice flour and mix well. Make a well in the center and slowly add hot water. Mix with a spatula. Add enough water to get a soft dough.

Wash and wipe dry the banana leaf. Run it over the flame and you can notice the color change. This makes the leaf more manageable.

Grease a leaf with oil. Take a lemon size of the rice dough. Pat into a circle of 3 inch diameter. Take a spoonful of the filling and place it on one half of the circle.

Fold the leaf such a way that the other half covers the filled one. Repeat with rest of the dough.
I used my MW Idli maker for steaming them. I could steam 3 at a time.

Steam for 7 minutes. Adjust the timing according to your MW and size of the adais you make.

Yummy elai adai is ready.

I am going to make this often since the process is simple and easy when compared to the so called traditional ones, though I will rate them the highest.

I am sending this across to Srivalli for her MEC-Steamed Dishes event.

Instant Wheat Appam and an Award

Neyyappam or Appam is always the traditional one using rice, for me. Never I have bothered to try anyother versions. When I was discussing various quick snacks, with one of my Christian friend J, she told me about this appam. When her kids ask for any sweet dishes, she makes this easily. J said she adds maida (AP flour) also. I made with wheat flour alone to make it a healthier version.

Ingredients
Wheat flour - 2 cups

Jaggery powdered - 1 1/2 cup (Adjust to suit your palate)

Cardamom powder - 1 tspn

Ghee or Oil for frying

Melt jaggery with 1 cup of water. Strain for any impurities. Add the melted jaggery to wheat flour without forming any lumps. Add water to the batter if required, to get a pouring consistency. The batter should be like dosa batter.

Take the appam pan. If you are using non-stick pan, add teaspoon full of ghee into each pit. Spoon in the batter to 3/4th of each pit. After 2 minutes, slowly turn the appams with the help of a skewer and cook for another one minute. Repeat for the rest of the batter.

Spongy appams are ready in less than 15 minutes.

Sowmya of Creativesaga has passed on the Nice Matters Award.

About the award

“Nice Matters Award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world.”

Thanks a ton Sowmya for passing the award to me. I know I have delayed in picking up the award and passing it on. Better late than never and I am passing the award to

Gaurav

Prema Sundar

Sagari

Seena

Please accept and enjoy your awards. You all deserve it.

Panchmel Dal and Baati

When RCI Rajasthan was announced, I had bookmarked few recipes. I found Dal Baati , part of an ordinary Rajasthan menu. Most of the Rajasthani recipes were new to me. Finally I tried Baati and Gatte ka Pulao. But since my personal life kept me busy, could not post it in time for the event. Even now, its the routine cooking going on in my kitchen. Meanwhile, the to-be-posted recipes will make it to the blog.

Baati
For baati, I followed partly sanjeev kapoor's recipe and Aathika's .

Whole wheat flour - 1 1/2 cup

besan - 1/2 cup

ghee - 3 tbspn

curd - 1/2 cup

baking powder - 1/2 tspn

ajwain (omam) - 1/2 tspn

salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients and knead into a soft dough using water.

Divide the dough into 8 equal portions and shape into balls.

Cover and keep for one hour.

I use my MIL's old handvo cooker for baking. I baked for nearly 30 mts. By that time, I could see cracks on top of the baatis. To have a look at the handvo cooker, visit here.

Panchmel Dal

Recipe source - Sanjeev Kapoor

As the name indicates, this recipe calls for 5 different dal. Needless to mention about the protien punch hidden in this recipe.

Bengal gram (chana dal) - 1/4 cup

Whole green gram (whole moong) - 1/4 cup

Split black gram (urad dal) -1/4 cup

red lentils (masoor dal) - 1/4 cup

turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn

salt to taste

ginger - 1 inch

green chillies - 2

oil - 3 tblspn

hing - a pinch

cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn

cloves - 5

red chillies - 2 (broken into two)

cumin powder - 1 tspn

coriander powder - 1 tspn

red chilli powder -1/2 tspn

tomatoes - 2 nos

garam masala - 1/2 tspn (I used Kitchen King masala)

Wash all the dal together. Pressure cook with enough water and turmeric.

Grind ginger and green chillies to a paste

Heat oil in a pan. Add hing, cumin seeds, cloves and red chillies. When cumin seeds change color,
add ginger-chilly paste and saute for few seconds.

Stir in cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder.

Add the chopped tomatoes. Cook till oil separates.

Add cooked dal and additional water if needed.

Cook for ten minutes with occasional stirring. Take care the dal doesn't stick to the pan.

Add garam masala powder and remove from heat.

Serve hot with baati.

Baatis are usually broken into pieces and dropped in a bowl of dal and eaten.

Extending my break

Its been 2 long weeks since I have blogged. And the break seems to get extended. I never thought its going to be a long break. I am not sure when I can resume serious blogging. I really miss visiting all your blogs. Very soon, I will try to catch up with all the wonderful posts out there, though it may take some more time to put my blog back to action.

I was very touched by emails from some of my blogging friends, who enquired about my absence from blogosphere. Its a great feeling to know that you are missed.

Badam Katli in celebration of my second award

My second award. It feels great to get an award by a fellow blogger. Thank you Cham for considering my blog as yummy. The Yummy Blog award is started by Roopa.

"Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos”


One of the rules of the award demands writing our most favorite desserts. The top 3 in my list are
Jhangiri

Gulab Jamun

Rasmalai

To choose 4 among the many yummlicious blogs around is difficult. Let it be passed to the other deserving blogs through friends. I pass the Yummy blog award to

The doctor blogger Nandita of SaffronTrail, who makes her dishes both yummy and healthy.

The chocolate queen Arundati of Escapades

The sunshinemom of Tongueticklers, a true super mom who prepares yummy treats for the tummy.

Kalai of Samaithupaarkalam , who has recently received the best presentation award from VOW event.

Here is your logo .


Rules for the ‘Yummy Blog’ award Receiver:

The person who receives the award should display the "Yummy Blog !" logo on their blog and also the meaning of the award which is "Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos".·The receiver should also quote their favorite yummy-licious :) dessert(s) that they have ever prepared/eaten. Don’t restrict yourself to any dessert, chocolate bars also welcome.·Also the receiver should pass on the award to four other bloggers whose blog they find "yummy" and let them know about the rules.

Coming to the recipe, I followed the recipe for Kaaju katli. Just replaced badam(Almonds) in place of Kaaju (Cashewnuts). In Microwave, it was easy and ready in less than 5 minutes.


Badam Katli

Badam powder - 1 cup

Milk powder - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1 tbspn

Powdered Sugar - 3/4 cup


Mix all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl.

MW high for 2 minutes.

Stir and MW for 1 1/2 minutes.

By that time it will turn dry and starts frothing on the surface.
Remove from the MW.

Keep mixing with a ladle for 3 more minutes. It gets dried in the heat trapped in the mixture.

When warm, knead into a smooth dough and spread on a greased surface. Pat it using a rolling pin and mark the pieces using a knife.

Gatte Ka Pulao

The cuisine of Rajasthan is primarily vegetarian and offers a fabulous variety of mouthwatering dishes. The spice content is quite high in comparison to other Indian cuisines, but the food is absolutely scrumptious.
The cooking style followed in Rajasthan is based on the natural climatic conditions of this desert land. There is scarcity of water and fresh green veggies in the state of Rajasthan, which has an adverse impact on its cooking. In the desert belts of Rajasthan, it is preferred to use milk, butter milk and butter in larger quantities to minimize the amount of water while cooking food.
Dried lentils and beans obtained from native plants like sangria are used extensively in the preparation of Rajasthani dishes. Gram flour is the major ingredient in the making of a couple of delicacies such as "pakodi" and "gatte ki sabzi". Powdered lentils are liberally used in the preparation of papad. Rajasthanis are quite fond of chutneys, which are prepared using different spices such as coriander, turmeric, garlic and mint.

(Source: http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-food/rajasthani.html)

I was tempted to try many of the Rajasthani recipes, I found googling. I tried Gatte Ka pulao and the famous Rajasthani Daal-Baati. Here is the recipe for the pulao. The gattes can be used to prepare kadhi and other sabzis. Should try other recipes using gattes.

On first reading the recipe (Source: Tarla Dalal), I thought it is not a very easy one, with too many steps involved. Keeping the RCI event in mind, I decided to go ahead. But once I made, I found it very easy. First prepare the gattes, then the masala to be mixed with. Finally set the pulao with the cooked rice, gattes and the masala. Its so simple.

Gatte Ka Pulao

Besan - 1 cup

Chilli powder - 1 tspn

Fennel seeds (Perinjeerakam) - 1tspn

Ajwain(omam) - 1/2 tspn

Curds - 1 tblspn

Oil - 2 tblspn

salt
Oil for deep frying

Combine all ingredients and knead to make a stiff dough. You may require few
drops of water or no water at all.

Divide into 8 equal portions and shape each portion into 4'' long and 5 mm diameter
cylindrical roll.

Boil plenty of water and drop the strands and cook for 12 minutes.

Drain and keep aside.

Cut in small pieces of 1'' length and deep fry them.

Preparing the Pulao

Rice - 1 cup

Onion - 1 (sliced)

Cardamon - 1

Cloves - 2

Cumin -1/2 tspn

Mustard -1/2 tspn

Hing - 1/4 tspn

Chilli powder -1 tspn

Turmeric - 1/2 tspn

Garam masala - 1/2 tspn

Oil -1 tblspn

To make paste

Garlic - 4 cloves

Green chilly - 2

Ginger - 2'' piece

onion - 1 (small)
Make a paste of the above ingredients and keep it aside

Method

Cook rice separately. Spread it on a plate and leave it to cool.

Deep fry the sliced onions.

Heat oil in a pan. Add cardamom,cloves, cumin, mustard and hing.
Add prepared paste and saute for 5 minutes.

Add cooked rice, deep fried onions, gattes, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and
salt.
Serve with onion raita or plain yogurt.

I am sending this across to Padmaja of Spicy Andhra, who is the guest host for RCI.

Eggless Microwave Chocolate Cake

After dosas, I think it is the turn of MW chocolate cakes in blogosphere. When Srivally announced Cake as this month's theme for MEC, no confusion over which recipe to post, since I have only one fool proof MW cake recipe. This cake recipe was in the booklet that came with the oven. So here is my tried and tested version of the chocolate cake.

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Sugar -3/4 cup

Curd - 1/2 cup

Butter- 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Cooking soda - 1/2 tsp

Milk - 5 tbsp

Cocoa powder - 2tbsp

Sieve flour,coco powder, baking powder and cooking soda in a bowl.Whisk butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy.

Add curd to it and blend them together .

Stir in the dry ingredients to the wet mixture slowly.

Add milk and gradually stir the mixture.

Pour the batter to a greased MW safe dish

MW at 100% power for 6 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes.

The cake batter consistency should be thin that when a spoon of batter dropped from height should fall like a ribbon. you can add more milk to get that consistency.

Serve with tea or coffee

So another chocolate cake at Srivally's MEC: Cake event.

MilagaiPodi

Milagaipodi or molagapodi as it is colloquially used, is an inevitable part of any South Indian kitchen. Each family has their own way of preparing this. Whatever be the ingredients used, ultimately when it is mixed with ghee/oil and used as side for idli/dosa, it makes a deadly combo. Even though, many number of chutneys or sambhar goes well with dosa and idly, molagapodi is one thing that anyone will crave for. It has an unique place among the sides used. The recipe is what I learnt from my mom and to my surprise I found my MIL also follows the same. Its just the choice of ingredients that vary.

Ingredients

Chana dal (Kadalaparippu) - 1 cup

Urad dal(split,deskinned) - 1 cup

Hing (Kaayam) - 1 tspn

Red chilly - 15 nos

Sesame seeds - 2 tblspn

Parboiled rice - 1/2 cup

salt to taste

Method

Wash and drain the rice and dry it on a kitchen towel.

Roast dals,red chillies separately in a teaspoon of oil.

Separately dry roast rice and sesame seeds.

If you are using hing bar, drop the piece in hot oil. Let it fry for a minute. Unlike hing powder, the bar gives stronger flavor.

Powder in a mixer grinder. Usually it is not powdered fine. Coarse texture of the powder is tasty. Mine is not very coarse, thought not too fine, to suit my FIL.

Take a teaspoon of the podi. Make a well in the center and pour sesame oil and mix well. Have you tried using the left over oil after deep frying. (We call it chuttennai). Molagapodi and chuttennai is a deadly combination.

Microwaved Scones & Mango Jam

Ever since I saw microwaved scones at Aparna's blog, I wanted to try it. But somehow, it did not happen. When EC announced the theme for WBB#21, I knew what I was going to make.

Ingredients:

whole wheat flour - 2 cups

butter(cold) - 3/4 cup

sugar- 1/4 cup

raisins - 3/4 cup

milk - 5 tblspn

baking powder - 4 tspn

a pinch of salt (not needed if using salted butter)

Method

Mix wheat flour,baking powder and salt together. Rub the butter into this mixture till it resembles bread crumbs.

Care to be taken that the butter doesn't melt when rub it into the floor.To use cold butter is very important.

Add sugar and raisins. Aparna has used brown sugar.

Stir in the milk and make a soft dough.
Slightly flour your kitchen counter and place the dough on it. Shape it into a square of 1 inch thickness. Cut into 9 squares.

Place on a tissue paper in the microwave turntable and cook at 100% power for 3 minutes. Do the toothpick test to ensure it is cooked inside. If not cooked, keep for another 1 minute.

Leave it in the MW for 3 more minutes.

Serve warm with your favorite jam or fresh cream for a filling breakfast.

Here is my recipe for mango jam which can be done in few minutes.

Mango Jam in Microwave

Mango pulp - 1 cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Take equal quantities of fruit pulp and sugar. Its better not to increase the sugar, since it will mask the flavor of the fruit.

To take mango pulp, peel and cut the mangoes into bite sized cubes. Pulse in the mixer grinder or use a blender to get fine pulp.
Take a MW safe bowl, add the pulp and sugar.Cook for 5 minutes at 100% power. Stir once in between. It will have a nice glazing texture.
Adjust the timings according to your oven type and quantity used. Store in an airtight bottle. Enjoy with your warm scones.

I am sending this to EasyCrafts who is hosting WBB for this month, which is the brain child of Nanditha of Saffrontrail

Ghee Rice for MBP

When Pavani of Cook's Hideout, who is the guest host for MBP April edition, announced One Pot Wonders, I knew where to look for ideas. With Meeta's MM- One dish dinners roundup at hand, didn't have to do much of patrolling. It was then I found Seena's post on Ghee Rice-Thalassery style. It was almost the same method I follow , except that it uses whole spices. I liked it for its instant kind.
Here is the recipe for quick ghee rice

Basmati rice - 2 cups
Ghee - 3 tblspn
Onion - 1
Fennel seeds -1/4 tspn
Cardamom - 2 nos
Cloves -2
Cinnamon - 1" piece
Water - 3 cups
Cashew and raisins for garnish

Soak rice for half an hour. Strain and keep it aside.
Boil 3 cups of water with required salt.
Heat ghee in a kadai. Roast cashew and raisins. Drain them and keep it aside for garnish.
Add spices, chopped onion to the same kadai.

Saute till onions are translucent.

Add rice and roast till it slightly changes it color.

Add the hot salt water, cook till water is absorbed completely.

Cover and cook with occassional stirring.

Leave it covered for half an hour after it is fully done.

Serve with any spicy curry or simple onion raitha.

Vethakozhambu - Palakkad Iyer recipe

Vathakozhambu is a famous dish of Tamilnadu and it is cooked by Iyers of Kerala too. But when it comes to Kerala, it is cooked in a slightly different way from what is followed in TN. Here is the version cooked at most of Palakkad Iyer homes.

Ingredients

Tuvar dal - 1/2 cup

Tamarind - lemon sized

Red chilly powder - 1 tspn

Hing - 1/4 tspn

Turmeric - 1/4 tspn

Method

Wash and pressure cook tuvar dal with water. Add little turmeric and 1/2 tspn of oil. Adding oil helps cook dal mushy.
Soak tamarind in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes.

Extract the tamartind juice. Add 1/4 tspn turmeric,1 tspn of red chilly powder, 1/4 tpn of hing and salt.

Let it simmer till the gravy thickens.

Mash the cooked dal and add half cup of water.

Stir in the cooked dal and water to the thickening gravy.

Bring to a boil.

Seasoning

In a pan, add a tablespoon of gingely oil, add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, add chundakka vathal. When chundakkai is fried, pour the seasonings over the cooked gravy and garnish with curry leaves.

Serve with hot rice with a teaspoon of homemade ghee and roasted papad. Its simply divine. Mezhukkuparatti ( Stir fried vegetable like raw banana and yam) is also an excellent side for vethakozhambu. Another popular side for this is paruppu thogayal.

Paruppu Thogayal

Ingredients

Tuvar dal - 1/2 cup

Grated coconut - less than 1/2 cup

Red chilly - 1

salt as required.

Since Vathakuzhambu is spicy, this thogayal uses only one red chilly for flavor only.

Dry roast tuvar dal till it turn light brown. Roast the red chilly too.

Grind all the ingredients to a coarse paste using less water.

Yummy parippu thogyal is ready.

(I forgot to take the photo of thogayal. Shall update next time when I prepare it)

Chundakkai Vathal

Chundakkai Vathal

Chundakka Vathal (Turkey Berry)

Chundakkai is very bitter in taste. The fresh ones can be used to make tamarind based gravies. Usually, chundakkai is preferred to make vathals, so that it can be stored for later use. It is mainly used for the preparation of vathalkuzhambu or can be deep fried and used as sides too.

Chundakkai - 2 cups

Buttermilk - 1 cup

Urad dal - 2 tblspn

Red Chilly - 3 nos

Salt to taste

Soak urad dal and red chilly for an hour.Grind it to a smooth paste.

Wash and slightly crush the berries. Crushing helps to remove the bitterness when later soaked in buttermilk mixture.

Add buttermilk, ground paste and salt to the crushed chundakkai. Mix well.

Leave it for a day.

Drain the chundakkais and dry it under sun. After each day of drying, continue to soak
them in the leftover buttermilk mixture till it is completely absorbed.

Dry the chundakkais for a day after no liquid mixture is left in the vessel.

Store in airtight containers. It will stay good for more than a year.

Shall post the recipe for vathakuzhambu soon.

Kariveppila Podi (Curryleaves powder)

Kariveppila or Curry Leaves is mostly used as a garnish. It indeed enhances the flavor of the dish. But most of the times, it is not consumed and is always kept aside while the dish is served. This podi is a good way to consume curry leaves, which has fair amount of Vitamin A and good source of Calcium. Curry leaves has many medicinal properties too. You can read more about it here.

Ingredients

Urad dal- 4 tblspn

Chana dal - 4 tblspn

Red chilly - 12- 15 (adjust the nos to suit your palette)

Tamarind - lemon size

Hing - 1 tspn

Salt to taste
Curry leaves - 2 cups

Gingely oil - 2 tblspn for roasting

Wash and dry the curry leaves.
Dry roast urad dal and chana dal separately till they turn light brown

Add a teaspoon of oil and roast the red chillies.

Transfer the roasted chillies to a plate and roast the curry leaves in a tablespoon of
oil.

When cool, powder all together with required salt.

Store in an airtight bottle. It will stay fresh for more than 2 weeks without refrigeration.

Serve kariveppila podi mixed with hot rice and ghee. It can be served as a dip for idli and dosa.

Happy Vishu

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous VISHU